Losing My Religion - Putting it all Together

The Bible is full of commands that we need to persevere, to hold fast, to stand firm, to obey. God's Word contains many warnings that we need to remain faithful to the end. There is no doubt. On the other hand, Scripture is equally filled with assurances that we can know that we have eternal life, that we are saved by faith apart from works, that those who are once in Christ are kept in Christ.

The Bible seems to be bipolar on the subject. "Yes, yes, absolutely you need to persevere to the end! No, no, you're not saved by works! You are justified by faith ... apart from works! Of course, faith without works is dead. But Christ will surely lose none; He will certainly save those who come to Him." How do we put these together? We need to persevere ... but we will surely be saved.

It's interesting in examining the texts on the subject that you will find a perspective shift. There are two points of view being offered in these passages. One is Man's and the other is God's. The verses that call on us to persevere call on us to persevere. It's what we do. The passages that assure us that salvation is sure are all from God's point of view. It's what He does. Two different angles.

As it turns out, that's how it actually works, at least according to Scripture.

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but He who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him (1 John 5:18).

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9).

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24-25).

Do you see what's going on here? These are putting both views together. Believers must persevere -- and they will. God does it. God insures it. God accomplishes it. How does that look in the Christian's life? It looks like perseverance. It looks like good works and obedience. It looks like

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13).

It's all there. Work out your salvation. Work it out with fear and trembling. This is a serious and solemn warning. Work! How? Well, it is God who is at work in you. And what is He doing? He is giving you two things: the will and the power. "Willing and able." The two necessities to do what God wants. He provides it. You see, then, that we work and He provides the ability to do so. In the end, then, we work but He gets the glory. We work but we have no room for boasting. We work but it's not us, but Christ living in us.

Look, I don't know about you. I know me. I am horrible at being constantly godly. When things go badly, it's easy to doubt. When things go well, it's easy to forget. It is my tendency to slip off either side. If I were trusting in my own faithfulness and my own will and my own determination to keep my salvation, I think I could say with relative certainty that at some point I'd lose it. Thanks be to God that I'm not the one in charge. You see, this is why I am so pleased with my Sovereign God. Yes, I need to persevere. Yes, I need to obey. Yes, I need to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. But it is of the greatest comfort to me that it is God who is at work in me to will and to do His good pleasure. He is able to keep me from stumbling. He will not allow me to ultimately and fatally fall. Instead, He will keep me growing, improving, more and more willing and able to do that which pleases Him. So, you can hang onto your "Conditional Security" and work on it yourself. Or you can place your confidence on a faith without works -- the version that James calls "dead" faith. I'm going to go with this middle version ... you know, the one I find in the pages of Scripture.